When I first met Elaine, she was still in school and pregnant, and she barely said a word. She would come in, sit quietly, and leave. Most people might have missed her entirely. But I noticed something: she kept coming back.
And here’s what I’ve learned in this work: for some people, showing up is the bravest thing they can do. But it only happens when there’s somewhere to turn.
Before she found Camino, Elaine’s life had been shaped by chronic stress, instability, and years of not knowing how to trust anyone. She told me once she'd never felt safe being herself anywhere.
What she needed most was a space that wouldn’t judge her and would let her move at her own pace. Slowly, over time, she began to share more. She started to talk about things she had been holding inside for years.
“I just had too many feelings built up,” she told me. Counselling gave her somewhere to finally put them.
And that’s when something started to change.
Not all at once.
But in a way that made it possible to keep going.
Stories like Elaine’s remind us that access to support matters.
Because someone in our community is at that same point right now - trying to decide whether to show up again, and whether anyone will be there when they do.
*Names have been changed for privacy reasons.
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